Storage, interpreting and printing machine



Aug. 23, 1960 P. R. HOFFMAN STORAGE, INTERPRETING AND PRINTING MACHINEFiled April 29,'1958 17 Sheets-Sheet 1 v INVENTOR PAUL. R. HOFFMAN AGENTP. R. HOFFMAN STORAGE, INTERPRETING AND PRINTING MACHINE Aug. v.23, 19601T Sheets-Sheet. 2

Filed April 29, 1958 INVENTOR PAUL R. HOFFMAN AGENT HMA' I Aug. 23, 1960P. R. HOFFMAN 2,950,347

v STORAGE, INTERPRETING AND PRINTING MACHINE Filed April 29, 195s A 17sheets-sheet :s

INVENTOR PAUL R. HOFFMAN BY v WM ma;

AGENT Aug. 23, 1960 P. R. HOFFMAN STORAGE, INTERPRETING AND PRINTINGMACHINE Filed April 29, 1958 17 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENIOR PAUL R. HOFFMANSW1/MMM AGENT Aug. 23, 1960 P. R. HOFFMAN 2,950,347

STORAGE, INTERPRETING AND PRINTING MACHINE Filed April 29, 195s 17sheets-Sheet 5 Y I A 4 2 i: |55 W ALS f |52 24 |55 a |57 5 8V "f no 8 l5j 4 k m INVENTOR f l'g. 5 PAUL R. HOFFMAN AGENT Aug. 23, 1960 P. R.HOFFMAN` 2,950,347

STORAGE, INTERPRETING AND PRINTING MACHINE 17 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed April29, 1958 INVENTOR PAUL R. HOFFMAN BY WM/140% AGENT Aug, 23, 1960 P. R.HOFFMAN 2,950,347

STORAGE, INTERPRETINQ AND PRINTING MACHINE Filed April 29, 1958 17Sheets-Sheet 7 g F/'g.7/l

INVENTOR PAUL R. HOFFMAN u '8 @www MM v AGENT Aug. 23, 1960 P. R.HOFFMAN STORAGE, INTERPRETING AND PRINTING MACHINE Filed April 29, 195817 Sheets-Sheet 8 PAUL R. HOFFMAN BY/M l?. I/o

AGENT Aug. 23, 1960 P. R. HOFFMAN INTERPRETING AND PRINTING MACHINESTORAGE 17 Sheets-Sheet 9 Filed April 29. 1958 Aug- 23, 1960 P. R.HOFFMAN 2,950,347

STORAGE, INTERPRETING AND PRINTING MACHINE Filed April 29, 1958 17Sheets-Sheet 10 l MHZ I l L l l S as@ m i3 lo LO O) m l IIL.

1NVENTOR PAUL R. HOFFMAN AGENT Aug. 23, 1960 P. R. HOFFMAN 2,950,347

STORAGE, INTERPRETNG AND PRINTING MACHINE Filed April 29, 1958 17Sheets-Sheet 1l AGENT Aug. 23, 1960 P. R. HOFFMAN STORAGE, INTERPRETINGAND PRINTING MACHINE 1'? Sheets-Sheet 12 Filed April 29, 1958 PAUL R.HOFFMAN AGENT Aug. 23, 1960 P. R. HOFFMAN 2,950,347

STORAGE, INTERPRETING AND PRINTING MACHINE Filed April 29. 1958 v 17sheets-sheet 1s LeHers A-J 409 405 INVENTOR PAUL R. HOFFMAN Aug. 23,1960 P. R. HOFFMAN STORAGE, INTERPRETING AND PRINTING MACHINE 17Sheets-Sheet 14 Filed April 29, 1958 INVENTOR PAUL R. HOFFMAN Aug. 23,1960 y P. R. HOFFMAN STORAGE, INTERPRETING AND PRINTING MACHINE 17Sheets-Sheet 15 Filed April 29, 1958 INVENTOR PAUL R. HOFFMAN Www/e, ma;

AGENT Aug. 23, 1960 P. R. HOFFMAN 2,950,347

STORAGE, INTERPRETING AND PRINTING MACHINE Filed. April 29,1958 17sheets-sheep 1e INVENTOR PAUL R. HOFFMAN naam/140W AGENT Aug. 23, 1960P. R. HOFFMAN 2,950,347

STORAGE, INTERPRETING AND PRINTING MACHINE INVENTOR PAUL R. HOFFMANAGENT United States Patent dice Patented Ang.. 23, 196i) STORAGE,INTERPRETING AND PRINTING MACHINE Paul R. Hoffman, Woodlyn, Pa.,assignor to Burroughs Corporation', Detroit, Mich., a corporation ofMichigan Filed Apr. 29, 1958, Ser. No. 731,714

23 Claims. (Cl. 1178-23) This invention relates to automaticallycontrolled machines which include a novel system combining storage,interpreting and printing operations, and more particularly to a machineof that general organization Jror printing indicia on a record mediumwhich corresponds to information received by the machine in coded form.

In present day business it has been found convenient to employ codingtechniques for representing information. One widely used codingtechnique is the binary system Iwhich in various forms thereof isadapted to be handled by business machines. It is sometimes desirable toreproduce the characters corresponding to such code in readable formupon a record medium to permit a person to read the same. Accordingly,some apparatus is required to store, interpret and print thisinformation for visual recognition.

An object therefore of the present invention is to provide a novelsystem for converting information from a rst form to a second form.

Another object is to provide a novel system, comprising apparatus whichupon receiving coded information in `a rst form, stores, interprets andrecords the information in a second form upon a record medium.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel device for'actuating 4a rotary drum printer in response to an information source,for printing that information on a record medium more rapidly `andeconomically than heretofore possible.

A still further object of this invention kis to provide ya novel opticaltime delay shift register and decoder.

In accordance with the yabove yobjects the illustrated embodiment of thep-resentinvention incorporates apparatus which `includes a rotary drumtype carrier, ya plurality of type hammers, a time delay `andinterpreting device comprising a plurality of rotating disc assemblies`driven in synchronism with the type drum for storing and ltranslatingcoded information received by the dev ice for initiating appropriatemovement of the type harnmers so that they will print selected indiciaon a record medium positioned between the type drum and Ahammers.

Further details and iother objects of the invention will be moreapparent fro-m the following detailed description of the invention whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a plan view of the printing device;

Fig. 2 `is a partial front elevational view taken along the line 2-2 ofFig. l, showing the left portion of the printing device;

Fig. 2A is a partial `front elevation view showing a frame plateconnected to the left side plate of the carriage;

Fig. 2B is a section of view taken along the line .2B- 2B of Fig. 2Ashowing the relationship between the type drum bar and the frame plate;

Fig. 2C is a fragmentary plan View illustrating the end -connectionbetween the type drum bar and the frame plate;

Figs. 2D and 2E are successive sectional views taken along lines 2D-2Dand 2E-2E of Fig. 2Afto further illustrate details of the type drumshaft;

Fig. 3 is a' partial elevational view of .the device taken along theline 3 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the vertical gear-trainhinge which permits opening and closing of the carriage;

Fig. 5 V(on sheet with Fig. 11), is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1 and shows a horizontal hinge which permits opening of thecarriage;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6--6 of Fig. 1 and showsthe portion of the clutch for retraction of the rack about which thetype drum is driven, and yfurther shows the sliding bearing support forthe left portion'of the carriage;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view through the type drum and `hammer carriagetaken along the line 7--7 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7A is a view taken along line 7A-'7A of Fig. 7 to illustrate thedriver gear;

Fig. 8 is a view taken along the line 8 8 of Fig. 7 and with partsremoved to further illustrate the hammer carriage;

Fig. 9 is a View taken along the line 9--9 of Fig. 7 to `illustrate oneposition of the mechanism for advancing the type drum laterally yalongits axis;

Fig. 10' is a view similar to Fig. 9 but showing another position of.the mechanism;

Fig. l1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the manner by which thehammer carriage is moved synchronously with the type drum;

Figs. 12, 13 and 14 are views showing the successive stages of action bywhich the hammer is impelled to accomplish a printing operation;

'F.ig. 15 is a schematic endwise View of the type drum illustrating thedisposition of the type characters about the periphery of the type drum;4 g

Fig. 16 is a developed view of the type drum shown in Fig. 15illustrating the disposition of the groups of type thereon, and theirpositions relative to the hammers;

Fig. 17 is a view showing a source of information which can be `readinto the shift register and decoder in the form of electrical pulses,and which takes the form of a tape read-ing device;

Fig. 18 is a lschematic view showing the mechanicaloptical shiftregister and decoder with electrical read-in from the tape-readingdevice of Fig. 17 and electrical read-out of signals to the printer; l

Fig. 19 (on sheet with Fig. 23) illustrates a form of binary coded tapewhich may be used by the tape-reading device;

Fig. 20 is a yfront elevational view of the mechanicaloptical shiftregister and decoder;

Fig. 21 is a sectional view of the decoder taken along section line21-21 of Fig. 20;

Fig. 22 is a perspective view of'intermittently driven gearingassociated with the apparatus of Fig. 20;

Fig. 23 is an exploded perspective view of the light source, lenses andphoto cell pick-up units of the shift register and decoder;

Fig. 24 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of a typical llightshutter assembly -andassociated reset means;

Fig. 25 is a fragmentary view which illustrates the reset operation ofthe light shutter assembly;

Fig. 26 4is a view similar to Fig. 25 but showing the tripped conditionof the llight shutter;

Fig. 27 (on sheet with Fig. 2l) is an enlarged crosssectional View of atypical prism carried by a decoding disc;

Fig. 28 is a view illustrating another form of operation of the decoderin which the centnal storage discs and the scanning decoding discs arein constant motion;

Fig. 29 is a View showing a greatly enlarged portion of Fig. 28 and`illustrating successive reading positions of theintersecting discs; andA Y Fig. 30 is aY sectional View taken along the line 3il-30 of Fig. 21and illustrates the path of a light beam through the stonage discs andassociated scanning discs and the pick-up of the bearnjby a photo-cellunit. .,.Thepsubjectmatter of this invention 'relates to apparatus ofthe type described and claimed in the copending applications for patentsof McDonald et al.,"entitled Automatic Printer, Serial No. 660,318, ledMay 20, 1957, and I-Ioirnan` et al., entitled Printing Mechanism, SerialNo. 724,655, tiled March 28, 1958 and both assigned to thersarneassignee as the present application. While the printing apparatus isydescribed and claimed in the above mentioned Hoffman'et al. case thisdescription is repeated in the present applicationto facilitate a clearunderstanding of the instant invention.

Referring now to the'various gures of the drawings ffor `t'he detaileddescription of the illustrated embodiment of the invention, and first toFigs. l and 3 thereof, it will be seen that power for performing'thevarious functions and operations ofthe printer is supplied to pulley 1l)by means of belt 11, the latter being connected to a-motor, not` shown,but which is continuously rotating when the mechanism is operating.Pulley is fixed to shaftY 12 which. is journalled for rotation adjacentits ends in standards 13, 13a and 14, which are mounted vertically upona plate 1S. The shaft has lan intermediate portion which is fluted ortoothed as seen at 16 (see also Fig. 7), and operates to impel printinghammers 17 toward a type drum 18, as seen in Figs. l2 through 14, and ina manner to be later described;

The type drum 18 '(Figs. l, 2 and 3) is mounted for to-and-fro lateralmovement on round bar 19, which is parallel to shaft 12. The type drumand round bar are further mounted for movement together in a directionperpendicular to the uted shaft 12. The latter movement is for thepurpose of readily permitting the insertion and removal ofthe/'printingrecord medium, shown land identied as paper in Fig. 14. The type drum 18and round =bar or rod 19`a-re mounted in a carriage 20 (Fig. 1)', whichincludesv a pair of upright side plates 21 and 22 maintained 4in spacedparallel relation by :a bar 23.V and a transverse carriage frame plate24extending across the machine The frame plate `24lies beneath rod 19 inFig. l, and the type drum `as `seen in Figs. 2 and 3. Y

The leftA portion 25.0f the frame plate 24 is shown fastened (Figs. 2A`and 2B) to carriage plate 211 by screws V25a. The left end portion ofrod 19 has its end slotted Vat 19a Vand is suitably pinned`or-otherw-ise fastened to plate portion 25 '(Fig. 2B) by pin 1911.Theopposite, or

right end portion 26 offrame plate Z4 is fastened to carriage side plate22 in a manner similar to that` shown in Figs. 2A, 2B and 2C Vand theright end portion of rod 19 is fastened to portion 26 Yof plate `24inc-the sameV V29, 30. An elongated bushing 31 containing bearings l31avsuitably mounted to carriage side plate. 21 permits the left end ofthercarriage to slide on the guide 28. The

lrigh-t hand carriage plate 22 is provided with a pair of rollers 32 and33 which engage and ride on a'guide 34.

The latter maybe in rectangular-'bar form and suitably Ifixed to baseplate 15.` By'means, later to' be described,

vthe typedrumzcarriage may be moved towardY andV away from the printinghammers; i

Type drum 1S is mounted for rotation about rod y19,

see Figs. 9 andv l0, #also Figs. 2D and 2E. The diameter off the bar 19is substantially the same as the diameter of the bore of the type drum.Ywhichris internally threaded as indicated at 38. The underside of rod 19includes a keyway, or slot 439, which extends the length of the bar. Atransverse rack 40 is positioned in the keyway .and is mounted forl-imited movement radially of the rod. The lower edge of the rackincludes teeth `411 which mesh with the internal threads 38 of the typedrum when the rack 40 is in its lowered position, as seen in Fig. 9.

Rotation of the type drum when so engaged with the rack will cause thedrum to advance across the machine from left to right, as seen in thisligure. When, however, as seen in Fig. 10 the rack is raised to itsretracted position inside of rod 19, thus disengaging the rack teeth l41from drum teeth 38, the drum is free to be quickly returned to itsinitial starting position for printing a new tion.

line of copy, as hereinafter described.

Still referring to Figs. 9 and 10, it will be seen that a parallelogramlinkage 42 is provided for effecting the aforementioned radial movementof rack 40 relative to rjod 19, Two pairs of riser links 43 rand 44 arepivotally secured at their toe portions by pivots 45 and 46 to the,aforementioned portions 25 and 26a respectively of transverse framecarriage plate 24. The pairs of riser links v43 and 44 are additionallypivoted vas at 52 yand 53 to downwardly projecting ears 54 and 5S oftransverse rack 40. The links pass through pairs of elongated slots 56and 57 cut through type drum shaft 19, see Figs. 2A, 2D, and are ofsufficient length to permit pivotal movement of the links. A -topcrossbar 58, disposed in parallel relation to a line containing pivots52 and '53 is poyotally connected at each of its ends to the top eX-`tremities of links 43 and 44, as at 59 and 60 respectively.

end by pin 67 to a connecting rod 66, the other end ci which ispivotally connected by pin 68 to the pair of links al3-ben=eath pin 59.It can thus be seen in Fig. 9 that when the cam is rotated so thatroller 63 is urged into engagementwith its low side, as by spring 63a,the `riser links are pivoted by the aforedescribed linkage in -a`clockwise directionto lower the rack into engagement with the internalthreads of the type drum. Upon rotation of cam 61 to the position shownin Fig. li) the high `side of the cam is presented land acounterclockwise rotation is'imparted to the riser links withdrawing thethreads `on the rack from engagement with the internal threads yof thetype drum.

As seen in Fig. 2E a slot 69 is cut into the top portion of thetransverse type drum shaft 19, and provides a ykeyway for receiving akey 70, the center portion of which is encircled by the type drum.Enlarged end portions of the key have mounted thereon short posts 71 and'72, to which rare tied or otherwise fixed the ends of a tape 73, theVreason for which is explained hereinafter. A roller 74 mounted upon apost 75 also secured to the right hand end of key 70 engages the rightside face of the type drum and eliminates excessive frictional contactof the type drum with key 70 as the type drum moves to the rightwhenrotating.

The type `drum is rotated by a gear 76 rigidly lixcd to the righthandside of the drum and a driver gear 80 mounted on (a drive shaft 81,suitably journalled for rotation in side plates 21 and 22 of lcarriage20, seeFigs. l and' 2. Driver gear 8f' is keyed to shaft 81 by means,of'key 82 received in keyway 83 of the shaft, see Figs. 7 and 7A,whereby the driver `gear may slide along its shaft yet remain in meshwith gear 76 fixed to the type drum, as the :latter moves along itsshaft in either direc- Referi'ing lto Figs. l and 4, rotation' of shaft81 is obtained bymeans of the gear train 96. Gear 87, pinned, orotherwise ixed to actuator shaft 12, meshes with and 'drives gear' 88similarly fastened to idler shaft 89 which is journalled for freerotation in standard 13. Gear 90 fixed to the opposite end of the idlershaft meshes with and transmits power to idler gear 91 mounted on shaft12. Idler `gear 91 is mounted on shaft 12 so that it can rotate freelyabout the shaft, and drives gears 92 and 93 rotatably mounted between apair of links 94 suitably maintained in spaced parallel relationship andconstituting a iirst gear train linkage 95. Power from linkage 95 istransmitted to a second gear train linkage 96, hinged to train 95 aboutthe axis of rotation of gear 93, and includes a second pair of :links 97between which gears 93, 98 and 99 are rotatably mounted. Gear 99 isaffixed to and drives shaft 81 thus effecting rotation of driver gear 80and type drum 18, Fig. 1. It can readily be appreciated that 'when thetype drum carriage is moved to its open position the pairs of links 94and 97, embracing gear trains 95 and 96, will pivot relative to eachother without disengagement of the gears.

Associated with the type drum is a hammer carriage '105 (Figs. 7 and 8)which includes top and bottom identical elongated members or castings106, angleshaped in cross-section. A pair of spaced rollers 107 (Pig. 8)are mounted on one arm of the angle and a single roller 108 on the otherarm intermediate rollers 107. lhe rollers are seen in Fig. 7 inengagement with the upper and lower V-faced ways 109 and 110. The rollercarrying members 106 are carried by a pair of side plates 111, 112, towhich they are suitably secured as by tongues 113, thus to maintainmembers 106 in spaced vertical arrangement for rolling engagement alongthe V-faced Iways 109 and 110. As seen in Fig. 7 the plates are suitablycut away to partially surround the actuator shaft 16. A back plate 114,Fig. 7, is fastened by flanges 115 to the side plates 111 and 112. Bymeans of brackets 116, a plurality of magnets 117, corresponding innumber, in this instance 4, to the number printing hammers I17, aremounted in `spaced relationship to the back plate 114. The hammers 1'7are mounted for `straight line sliding movement toward and away fromtype drum 18 by means of comb-like blocks 118 and 119, the latter beingsuitably fastened between the side plates K111 and `112. As seen in Fig.8, the blocks are slotted as at 120 and serve to guide the hammers inspaced parallel motion. A cover plate 121 is secured to the top portionof block 118 to keep the hammers in slots 120. The plate also serves toanchor one end of each of a plurality of springs 122, the other end ofeach spring being connected to an ear 123 of a printing hammer. Suitablysecured across the top of the other block 119 is a plate i124 whichcooperates with plate 121 to maintain the movement of the hammers in astraight line.

A shroud 125 is xed between and over the outer ends of side plates 111and 112, as seen in Fig. 7 to protect the ends of the hammers fromforeign matter. When the hammers are actuated they are projected throughapertures 125a in the outer vertical surface of the shroud. As seen inFigs. 12, 13 and 14 the record medium i-s fed through lthe space betweenthe hammer ends and the type drum and the shroud 125 (Fig. 7) and guidesthe paper and ribbon between the hammer carriage and the type drum. Theaforementioned brackets 116 also sen/e as pivotal mountings for clappers126 of solenoids 117 as seen at 127. A spring 128 is attached at one endto each clapper 126 and at `its other end to -a xed bracket 129. Thespring force normally urges one end of each clapper into engagement witha notch 130 on its associated type hammer 17, thus to lock the hammersin their retracted or inoperative positions. Transverse pins 131 whichextend between plates 111 and 112 limit the pivotal movement of theclappers to their hammer latching position which position provides thecorrect gap or spacing between the clappers and their associatedmagnets.

Referring now to Fig. 8, a pair of clevis elements 135 are shownadjustably attached to side plates 111 and 112 of the hammer carriage bymeans of nuts 136. By varying the position of the nuts on the threadedportion of the clevis, the position of the hammer carriage may beadjusted relative to the type drum, as will be more fully describedhereinafter.

Referring now to Figs. 8 and 1l, a flexible steel tape 137 is shownconnected at its ends to opposite sides of the aforementioned hammercarriage 105 from which it extends around pulleys 138 and 139. Thepreviously mentioned tape 73, connected at its ends to posts 71 and 72on key 70, see Fig. 9, extends around pulleys 140i, l141, 142, 143, 144and 145. Both tapes 137 and 73 are soldered or suitably joined at afixed point as indicated at 146. A -third tape y'147 of similarconstruction has one end connected at 146 to the other tapes and extendsaround pulleys 139, 148 to terminate on a retractable spring drivenpulley 149. All of the tapes are of a exible material and readilyconform to the peripheries of the aforementioned pulleys. Theretractable pulley 149 is in the nature of a `spring drum which tends towind the tape 147 thereabout, and accordingly resiliently bias both thetype hammer carriage and the type drum to their left hand positions. Thepulley 149 is effective simultaneously to return the hammer carriage andthe type drum to their leftmost positions for the beginning of a newIline of printing Whenever the type drum has been disengaged by theaforementioned retractable rack 40, Fig. 10. The advancement of the typedrum from its left hand position to the right is accomplished as beforementioned by power supplied to the rotating gear '76 on the type drum.Because the hammer and type drum are interconnected by means of the`flexible tapes 73 and 137 they -advance to the right concomitantlythrough each printing or word space signal. For reasons of clarity, thetapes have not been shown on certain of the other figures, such as Figs.l, 2 and 3, where they would normally appear.

As viewed in Figs. 1, 5 and 11, pulleys 139 and l143 are mounted instationary standard 13, pulleys 139 and 143 being mounted for rotationabout pins 150 and 151 respectively. A Second pin l152 is in alignmentwith pin 151 and together they serve to mount a U-shaped hinge element153 for rotation 4relative to standard 13. Pivotally connected lat `oneend to hinge element 153 by pin 158 and tongue portion `154 Iis themating hinge element 155,which is pivotally connected by pin 159 to aU-shaped block 157 fixed to carriage .frame plate 24. Pulley 144 is alsomounted on pivot pin 158 at its outer end.

Pin 159 also serves to support pulley 145 for its rotational movement. Asupplementary tension pulley 160 -is mounted in hinge element by meansof pin 161, and may be suitably adjusted to vary the tension ofresilient tape 73 in a manner not shown herein.

With reference to Fig. 1 it will be seen that pulleys 140, 141 and 142,as well as pulley 138, is mounted by a similar hinge structure as thatshown in Fig. 5, but extending in the opposite direction. As viewed inFig. 11 the hinge structure, as described, permits the configuration ofresilient tape 73 to assume that which is shown in phantom lineposition. In this, latter position it is apparent that the type drum, byVirtue of its mounting in the type drum carriage 20 can be moved awayfrom the hammer carriage to permit insertion in the machine of a recordmedium. It should be further apparent that the relationship, and moreparticularly the lateral position and rotation ofthe type drum on itsshaft, is in no way affected when the type drum carriage is in its openor closed position.V Thus the phasing of the type drum relative to thehammer carriage cannot be affected by the hinge mechanism hereinbeforedescribed.

It will be recalled, with reference to the above descriptions of Figs. 9and l0, that operation of type drum 18 upon its shaft 19 is controlledby rotation of cam 61.

